The UK is “resolutely committed” to all of its overseas territories, the responsible foreign minister said, after Argentina vowed to gain “full sovereignty” of the Falkland Islands.
Stephen Doughty said on Saturday that the sovereignty of the territories is “not up for negotiation”.
Keir Starmer defended the UK relinquishing control of the Chagos Islands on Friday and said the agreement with Mauritius over the remote archipelago would achieve the “single most important thing” of securing the long-term future of a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.
Doughty, minister of state for Europe, North America and overseas territories, wrote on X: “British sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar or any other of our Overseas Territories is not up for negotiation.
“The Chagos Islands are a very different issue with a very different history. The UK remains resolutely committed to all our Overseas Territories.”
Luke Pollard, the armed forces minister, added on X: “UK Armed Forces support our Overseas Territories, protect sovereignty and operational capabilities and our commitment to them remains unwavering and resolute.”
Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.”
The Falklands’ governor, Alison Blake, has already sought to reassure residents that the UK’s commitment to the territory is “unwavering”.
On Friday, Starmer was asked to guarantee that no other British overseas territories would be signed away, and he responded: “The single most important thing was ensuring that we had a secure base, the joint US-UK base; hugely important to the US, hugely important to us.
“We’ve now secured that and that is why you saw such warm words from the US yesterday,” the prime minister added.
The agreement over the continued UK-US military presence on Diego Garcia is expected to run for 99 years, for which Britain will pay an annual fee.
Source: theguardian.com
